The Right Trio
by Rosygirls92
Summary: Kiba and Hinata are on a mission to protect Gaara. It's a dangerous mission and involves Ataksuki. The trio's relationship grows immensely. Orochimaru wants a new container, Hinata. Is it the open Kiba or the withdrawn Gaara, who will save her? Complete
1. Growing to know each other

_In Tsunade's office…_

'This is your next B-rank mission' said Tsunade to Hinata and Kiba 'you two must go to the sand and protect the kazekage.'

She stopped for a drink of sake.

'Jiriya has informed us with his reliable sources that Akatsuki will be after a Jinchuuriki but he was unable to tell us who so your mission is to guard the Kazekage for the next 2 weeks.' Hinata and Kiba both nodded as they headed out. They headed down the stairs when a voice interrupted them.

'Hey!' Naruto called out as he ran after the pair 'I heard you had a new mission, what is it?' he asked. He had a new change of clothing has he had grown another few inches. This time he sported a chuunin vest and had his jacket wrapped around his side.

Hinata blushed and began to fidget with her fingers. Naruto was the boy she had a crush on. She usually didn't know why as he would most of the time act like an idiot and be called an idiot, but maybe it was the attractive blue eyes. The eyes had a zest for life and his way of speech would give someone hope.

Kiba, then, replied 'we're protecting the Kazekage.'

'Hmmm that sounds about right as Sakura and Lee having to protect me. Lucky me old lady chose Sakura.' He chuckled a little and blushed as he thought of perverted scenes with him and Sakura. (It was because of being with Jiriya all those years.)

'Ah well then catch you later' Naruto ran off, leaving Hinata and Kiba in shock at his fast arrival and departure.

'Well, Hinata I guess we'll just be heading off,' Kiba pointed to the stairs as Hinata nodded and followed.

_A day later…_

As the two ninjas arrived in the hidden village of the sand at dusk they were greeted by many smiling adults. They knew what the two were here for as Gaara's affairs never seemed private. Hinata timidly returned the smile, Kiba just kept on walking and talking to Akamaru. Soon they reached Gaara who was accompanied by his siblings Temari and Kankaru.

'You're finally here,' said Temari.

She then flew off with Kankaru. Gaara turned his expressionless face towards them then without a word walked off. The pair hurried after him.

'Sheesh he really knows how to stay quiet,' Kiba muttered. He hopped on Akamaru and pulled Hinata on too. Hinata blushed and looked down. They arrived at a cabin and the reception informed them that this was the place they were to stay at, Gaara stood in silence. Inside looked quite comfortable and roomy. Akamaru growled softly and nestled onto one of the beds. He yapped a note of approval and Kiba jumped onto the bed next to Akamaru and Hinata set down her jacket and sat on the chair.

The pair rejoined with Gaara, later in the afternoon and accompanied him wherever he went. To Kiba he seemed distant but he looked more vulnerable to Hinata just because there weren't large amounts of sand swirling around him waiting to attack and he wasn't wearing his sand gourd. The only time they had talked that day was when Kiba asked Hinata whether she was hungry or not, she nodded in response. The pair ate in silence while Gaara watched.

As the pair chatted a small creak was heard, Gaara stood in his position but Kiba jumped he suddenly said 'There's a new scent,' Akamaru roared and positioned himself in attack mode.

Sure enough Deidara of the Akatsuki appeared. Gaara had already reappeared with his gourd and asked in an expressionless voice

'Aren't you dead?' Deidara smirked and replied 'You really are naïve, do you think I would really say art is a bang if I wanted to die? I had only used the Kage Bunshin as a diversion you fools didn't realize at all did you? Now I just need to get rid of these two pesky ninjas and finish what we started.' As quick as a flash he sent out an explosive and it flew over to Hinata and ripped her jacket.

'Ah that was #1 pretty light, you seem very slow, well since you're the weakling I guess I'll go for the next.' Hinata cringed with pain and slowly fell to the floor. Kiba's eyes narrowed and he was angered 'Never call Hinata a weakling,' He fed Akamaru a protein food pill and attacked.

Deidara remarked 'This is too easy, Yeah,' He easily blocked the attacked and knocked Kiba unconscious using #10 explosive.

'Now to the next, Yeah,' Deidara turned to face Gaara. Deidara threw an explosive at him but Gaara easily blocked it and sent out a large torrent of sand at Deidara. Unknown to Gaara there's was an explosive underneath him, hidden under the floorboards. Hinata, who's activated Byakagun had spotted it rather easily pushed Gaara aside and barely missed being hurt by it. Gaara stood up again and said 'allow me to fight him,'

Hinata shook her head 'I am here to protect you'.

'A Byakagun user, Orochimaru told me about them,' Deidara commented 'a bloodline like me.' Deidara sent another surge of explosives to Gaara. Hinata began to attack the explosives. She forced her charka into the explosives causing them to be frozen and only explode after hitting the ground. She was soon out of charka, she panted as sweat dripped.

Gaara used his sand to shield her and pulled her close to him so she was easier to protect.

'Allow me to fight,' he said once more Hinata shook her head again as she remembered Naruto's words 'I'm not good at giving up.' Hinata replied to Gaara 'I must protect you at all costs because, that is my ninja way,'

However, unknown to them, Deidara had already disappeared as he had run out of explosives.

Hinata dropped to the ground as she had no energy left and whispered to Gaara 'help me, please,' Gaara bent down to pick her and Kiba up and headed off to the hospital.

_In the hospital…_

Kiba was resting and Hinata was being treating and Gaara was sitting and watching Hinata. He barely moved a muscle despite everyone's whispers and as there was no television, word spread like fire. 'The Kazekage has found his love' were the main words said.

'The only reason I sit here' he thought 'is because I want to say thank you to her later on and because she is a friend of Naruto,' There were other reasons that related to his duties too:

If the Kazekage was saved by another they would have to leave a present or thank you gift of some sort.

Gaara hated carrying things around because he already had the disadvantage of the heavy gourd so he decided that's his gift would be a simple thank you.

In Hinata's mind the events of the fight played over and over.

'Why couldn't she save Gaara and why was it that Gaara ended up saving her?'

She questioned herself over and over, so much that the events turned into a nightmare, she woke, gasping. She looked around her and saw Gaara sitting on a chair and Kiba being unconscious on a hospital bed beside her and Akamaru sniffing him. Hinata smiled, she should've known better, it was only a dream.

Gaara's face jerked up to meet her. His toneless voice muttered 'Thank you,' before his abrupt departure. Hinata was struck dumb. She was thanked for being saved? That wasn't the way it worked. Kiba on the other hand was waking and Akamaru was jumping around his bed barking excitedly.

Kiba yawned 'Well, that's sure the Kazekage; I'll make sure I thank him.' Hinata was flushed. He had heard Gaara thank her. She suddenly had the urge to respond to the kind gesture he had given her.

She suddenly stood up and said 'I'll come with you to thank him,'

Kiba smiled 'That is just Hinata,' he thought. He suggested 'How about we go tomorrow when we'll be better,' Hinata nodded.

The next morning Hinata and Kiba were flying to Gaara's building where he gave out missions. When they appeared before him, Gaara was busy assigning missions to a jounin. He didn't show a sign of greeting.

'Erm,' muttered Hinata

'We'd like to say thank you' finished Kiba.

Gaara, for the first time, smiled.

'Y..yes we do,' Hinata mumbled.

They were soon pushed out side due Temari saying that Gaara was busy. Kiba was disgruntled but Hinata wasn't sure what she felt. They hastily bowed and stepped outside.

'Thank you, Kiba,' Kiba looked at her

'For what?' Hinata began fidgeting 'for always being there for me.'

'Oh that, Nah that was nothing,' replied Kiba.

Kiba jumped on Akamaru once more and offered Hinata a hand, which she accepted. On arriving to the cabin they met Temari and Kankaru. Temari signaled for them to stop, Kankaru, on the other hand was on guard, with a puppet out.

Temari said to the pair 'I've never seen Gaara this open before, you know.'

Hinata was confused: Gaara never seemed open especially not now.

Temari continued 'This was the first time he said thank you or even smiled to a stranger,'

Kankaru nodded in agreement. Kiba shrugged but Hinata stood there with her head bent in thought.


	2. When Gaara would open

_In the dark Akatsuki cave… _

The members with the symbolic red robes spoke in hushed whispers.

'Damn, that Hinata is annoying,' said Deidara.

'What are you going to do?' growled Hoshigaki Kisame 'You should kill them, you fool.'

'That's right, yeah, kill that weakling that that's one less ninja I've gotta worry about,' thought Deidara. '

'I know your thinking about killing that Byakagun, I've a better idea, bring her here as bait so that Gaara might come for her then we'll get the Shukaku… nothing will stop us now,' hissed Itachi through the darkness.'

'A good idea,' said Deidara, while fingering his stiched-on-hand's ring. Deidara always listened to Itachi and thought of him as a human that was closest to god.

'I'll be back right away,' Deidara scampered out.

The cabin was a peaceful place. The only sounds that could be heard were a soft breathing. Deidara crept in, as silently as the wind; he took Hinata in his arm and bound her quickly with his clay. He flew out, however, was unaware of Temari's watchful eye.

Temari quickly jumped inside the cabin and shook Kiba.

'Kiba, Hinata's been taken,' Temari tried to wake him up.

'Zzz Uh Whaa?' Kiba's words came out in snorts and grunts.

Temari slapped his face and repeated what she had in a much louder voice.

'What! There's no way!' Kiba jumped out of bed frowned at Temari. He wasn't going to let her go without a fight. He demanded to know where she was. Temari indicated a far away place.

She blushed as he jumped out of his bed with only his boxers on. When Kiba realized he too blushed and hastily jammed on a pair of pants and a t-shirt.

She signaled for him to follow her and told him that they'd be going to find where Gaara was.

Temari climbed into her room and shook Kankaru awake, whilst being accompanied by Kiba.

'Wake up, where's Gaara?' Kankaru rubbed his head.

'He could be anywhere, you know how he is.' Kankaru growled, annoyed at being awoken at this hour. Temari started to be agitated.

'Hinata's gone we need Gaara to help.' Their attention was then drawn to a light stepping and Gaara appeared from the hallway.

Kiba shouted 'We have to save Hinata! Why are you acting so calm?'

He was angry, he expected better of the Kazekage.

Gaara replied 'I really can't go, I belong here you also know that they want me.'

That was Kiba's breaking point. Kiba threw himself out of the window and went to where Temari had pointed and told him where Hinata might be.

Kankaru knew that his brother needed some talking to, if he was to go after anyone, as flying for him took up a lot of energy as he never practiced taijutsu.

'Isn't Hinata important to you?' questioned Kankaru.

'She is Naruto's friend; I know that I'm not very close to you but listen to your brother for once.' Kankaru explained in his most brotherly fashion.

With that Kankaru flew out the window with Temari. Gaara thought about it for a while, his stomach twisting in confusion and the minutes ticking by...

_Under the evening moonlight…_

The wind was cold; it blew at his face as he sat on Akamaru that was rapidly covering up the miles. He was thinking of what might've happened to Hinata.

'She could've been killed' were the main thoughts that were gone on in his head, He knew that he was slow as it had been a few hours since he left that window sill.

'You don't know the way at all do you,' Gaara's low voice came from behind Kiba.

'She's 10 degrees to the west,'

Kiba turned around in surprise.

'Where were you all along?' joked Kiba.

Gaara's eyes turned to him then returned to facing forward.

'I'm coming with you,' was all he said until they reached a cave entrance.

The cave mouth had many traps around it including a genjutsu which Gaara easily dispelled. There were a lot many explosive notes and large animals that proved to be worthy-Akatsuki distractions. After an hour of fiddling with the distractions they were finally able to reach the inner part of the cave.

'There's no one in here,' Gaara whispered, as they entered the cave's dark mouth.

_In the cave…_

Kiba rubbed Akamaru and reassured him that it would be okay. Then he turned his attention to Gaara.

'I'll stay guard, because I have a good sense of smell and sight and I'll be able to spot the enemy from far away. You go and find Hinata,' Kiba told Gaara.

Gaara simply nodded. He felt drained because he wasn't the taijutsu type and he had been flying for a long time. He crept in and examined every cell and carefully looked around for hidden traps whilst doing so. When he inspected every one and found out that Hinata wasn't in a single one. He went to find Kiba.

'I couldn't find her,' he reported.

'Can't you tell? She's under the floor. My nose sensed that right from the beginning. ' Kiba replied.

'Byakagun,' came a small sound from the ground. Gaara looked around in surprise. Hinata was close. She was under the floorboards. He bent down to look at the ground and found that it was sand. There was no problem in getting her out. He summoned his charka and started to form and charka-like vacuum which took in all the sand and fed it to the gourd. When couldn't suck in anymore he found a box where he knew Hinata was. He bent down to free her.

'Not so fast,' Kisame stepped out of the shadows.

'A cute little boy, how nice,' he murmered with an evil glint in his eye. He unwrapped his Samehade and prepared himself ready for battle. Gaara didn't want to show Hinata his Shukaku's body parts so he stood ready to defend himself. Kisame raced forward with his Samehade but Gaara's sand easily stopped him. He released a large quantity of sand which enveloped Kisame in and instant.

'Not good enough,' Kisame with his Samehade had already sucked in all the Chakra in the sand. Gaara kept throwing attacks at him using his own Chakra and soon he had used all his chakra.

'Shukaku lend me your Chakra' Gaara spoke inside himself. Soon he felt a strong surge of red chakra in his body. With it attacked Kisame and was able to knock him down. Poof! That was a kage bunshin. Kisame's real self was much stronger. It appeared and ran at Gaara. It pentrated Gaara's shield with ease. Now Gaara was really in trouble.

Gaara was hesitatant about showing Hinata (who had activated her Byakagun) his shukaku body but he knew without it he was doomed.

'Shukaku lend me your body,' Gaara told the monster inside him. His arms started to grow into shukakus's sandy ones. He heard Hinata gasp. Soon his body was slowly turning into shukaku's true form. The body had the advantage of strenght which was Kisame's specialty so he was able to defeat Kisame easily.

He told a blow at Kisame's head. Kisame stopped it with his Samedi but the Shukaka's special ability was to be able to deconstruct and reconstruct. He folded his arms around the Samedi and gave it a tug. Kisame wasn't able hold it anymore. Gaara then hurled it away, smashing it to pieces. With the Samedi gone Gaara could use his Chakra. He then penetrated each of Kisame's body cells with a grain of sand. It took a lot of chakra but finished him off.

Gaara slowly sat as he was at his limit. He didn't want to face Hinata, he knew she'd be scared of him now. Suddenly he heard a crack. Hinata was standing amongst the remains of the broken box, in the gentle fist stance. Hinata, too, sat down as she was covered with cuts and bruises. Gaara slowly went to Hinata expecting her to run away in horror from him but she stayed where she was.

He was puzzled 'Aren't you afraid of me?' She turned her head to him 'Should I be?'

'Hey, Gaara, is Hinata alright?' Kiba's voice came echoing from the darkness. Gaara decided to answer back.

'Yes, we're okay just bring us to the hosptial,' he called back. They heard a pitter- patter of light footsteps and were greeted by a shady image of Kiba on Akamaru. Kiba walked over to the injured pair and placed them comfortably on Akamaru.

'I'll bring you to the nearest hospital,' Kiba voluteered.

He took one of Hinata's hands and flew to the hospital with Gaara following.


	3. Deidara falls

In Tsunade's office Kakashi stood there, his eye bored and his posture rigid. Only half of him was listening to what Tsunade said, the other half was thinking about how hard Tsunade worked him.

'I want you to make a full report on how each village is, starting from the rain and working clockwise. Tell me if you see thing to do with Orochimaru or anything suspicious,' Tsunade said. Kakashi leapt out of her office and stopped for a drink. After half and hour and stretched,

In the hosptial

There were many brightly coloured paper cranes hanging around. Hinata and Kiba looked around in awe so Gaara told them that there was a festival that celebrated him. The cranes represented a new, pure beginning and today was the day when he became Kazekage.

Kiba flashed a wide smile.

'Can we go?' he grinned at Gaara.

Gaara told him they could do as they wished. Then a nurse came to tend to them. She bought the trio into her examination to look at their injures. She told them that none of them had anything too serious. She performed some medical ninjutsu and wrapped them in bandanges. She said that they would be fine if they didn't move around too much.

When they walked outside Kiba was ecstatic.

'Now we can go to the festival!' he jumped up and headed off the other two to the balloons and large sounds.

_In the festival…_

'Well, Hinata how's the festival?' Kiba shouted over the extremely loud crackers

'G...Good,' Hinata whispered, Kiba couldn't hear because the sound was just too loud but he understood. Hinata and Gaara both walked side by side and talked as a pair of good friends would, Temari and Kankaru were also with them. Gaara smiled a lot for himself, which Kankaru noticed and knew why. They walked along the cheerful streets and admired all the view.

_Unknown to them…_

Itachi's eyes narrowed

'How many times have you failed against a few Chunin? You don't deserve to live since you run away when things get bad. At least Kisame stood there and tried to defeat them. Fail again and we'll all disown you.'

'I've been trying; it's very annoying, fighting a Jinchuuriki, a Byakagun and a boy with good senses. You can't hide in anyway.' Deidara responded.

'This time, though I will win for sure, yeah' he thought.

His image then disappeared and so did all the others.

Deidara watched over the 'weakest' of the five shinobi, Hinata. He waited patiently.

_Back to the festival… _

'Um... I'll be off to see the famous statues' she said as she spotted a Byakagun that had become a Kazekage.

Deidara spied wherever she walked and saw his chance. He then performed a genjutsu which made her walk straight out of the festival. It also increased the pace she walked by 17 times and would send her off in different directions.

After a few minutes of walking she realized that a genjutsu had been performed on her she was miles away from the festival. When Deidara saw she had seen through what was happening he chuckled.

'She going to die out there anyway, why waste explosives?' he thought.

He then dispelled the genjutsu so she wouldn't know the exit if she was stuck in it again. He then took off to the cave again.

Hinata gasped at she looked at her surroundings, there was nothing, only some bare soil. Hinata's first instinct was to use her Byakagun to try to find her way back, which she did. She looked around and saw nothing, then, using all her concentration she then extended it as far as it could go, which was 50 metres.

She was disappointed as her Byakagun gave her no sign of civilization.

_After a few hours…_

Kiba realized something was wrong as Hinata's scent was too faint and she had been away for too long. He hurriedly told Gaara what he thought and asked for help. Gaara agreed.

'Hinata!' called out Kiba. Akamaru's well trained nose sensed that Hinata was close by. They had been walking for days, following the faint scent of Hinata. Hinata was too tired to call out so she sat there. When Kiba found her lying helplessly, he rushed over to her. He carried her, bridal pose, to the hospital.

_In Deidara's crystal ball…_

Deidara looked at Hinata sleeping peaceful in the hospital bed. He was horrified as he thought he would be seeing a half-dead girl in a desert. He kicked the table so it overturned.

'HOW DID THAT GIRL SURVIVE?' Deidara was in rage but being the type of person he was, he sat and thought of a plan. He knew that she wasn't well so he could take advantage of that

'Alright one last time I'll try, if I don't succeed I'll create the greatest explosion, yeah.' He thought.

_At night…_

Deidara was angry. 'This is time I will kill the shinobis even if it costs my life.' he thought. Deidara ran to the cabin in henge-form so he wouldn't be recognized. When he reached it he took off his Akatsuki clothes and placed his grey shirt with the red and white symbol on. For just once he wanted to fight as his blood-line limit and not as an Akatsuki.

He harshly rapped the door of Hinata's and Kiba's cabin and waited. Kiba, half-asleep, dawdled to the door and pulled it open. As he didn't see the familiar black and red of an Akatsuki he let his guard down and invited Deidara in. It wasn't until he heard the lick of the two mouths on the palm of Deidara' hand that he was aware that it was actually Deidara.

'HINATA WAKE UP AND RUN! DEIDARA'S HERE!' Kiba warned

(Hinata was already in the cabin as she had gotten faster through her training) Kiba frantically began to wake up Akamaru and told him to get ready to fight.

Kiba launched forward and with his gatsuuga he directly hit Deidara. Poof! However it was a substitute 'Damn that guy,' Kiba muttered. Deidara chuckled evilly. Deidara did a few hand seals and soon Kiba was in a genjutsu similar to the one Kakashi was in (when Itachi made him feel seventy-two hours of pain and started stabbing him with knives).

'You don't know who I really am; I am … part of the branch family of the sharingan, yeah,' Deidara's image then faded. Kiba stumbled around and then saw many horrible things happening to Akamaru and started to scream with despair. In Kiba's mind it had lasted for 48 hours. He saw images of all his family abandoning him due to him being weak and his classmates being killed off, one by one. Kiba dropped down in despair.

Hinata peeked out from the door and Deidara saw her.

'Hah, she's not getting away from me anymore, yeah,' he sent out a #21 explosive.

'Even if it misses by 15 centimetres she will be in great pain,'

Hinata didn't know that he had sent an explosive as she was too scared to utter a word, therefore not able to use Byakagun. By the time she saw the explosive it was too late. It had hit her chest. Hinata's hand went up to her throat and she began to cough out streams of blood.

'You're finished,' Deidara edged forward and dispelled a genjutsu.

A hand went up to her eyes. Kakashi was there! He was standing behind he and covering up her eyes. His Sharingan eye was open and he was too using his different Mangekyou Sharingan.

'A Mangekyou sharingan against a normal Sharingan, with do you think has the advantage?' Kakashi stated. Deidara was disgruntled. He began to unleash a series of Taijutsu attacks on Kakashi which he easily dodged. Kakashi then placed an attack on Deidara, one that would freeze him until the user decides to let him go. Kakashi slipped off his ring and dropped it in front of Hinata,

'This is a reward,' he told her.

She nodded, understanding.

Her face was now puzzled 'Why are you here?' she asked.

'I was on a mission for Tsunade and I was passing by and heard Kiba's voice calling so I decided to check in,' Kakashi replied and laughed.

Kakashi's stomach then grumbled. Hinata looked at his stomach and Kakashi laughed good-naturedly.

'Seems it's meal-time for me,' Kakashi told them. Kakashi then looked at the time and his hair stood.

'I'm so…so…so late,' he whispered.

He turned back to Hinata and saluted.

'Well, I'll be off with Deidara,' Kakashi flew out the window.

Hinata went to Kiba and laid him on his bed then put a cool cloth on his forehead. She sat beside him,patiently.

_The next morning in the Akatsuki cave…_

The Akatsuki realized that Deidara had not been back. Itachi image appeared

'Sasori, how long has it been since Deidara was here?'

'About a day,' Tobi replied.

Itachi was angered 'That Deidara has either been playing too much or has died,'

'He's actually with Kakashi, I saw him fly by, frozen.' Tobi replied.

'Damn, I'm going to kill that Hyuuga and Inuzuka.' Itachi left and in the background there was a soft croaking.


	4. There's still more

_In Orochimaru's den…_

'Sasuke you are improving greatly,' Kabuto smiled and walked off. Sasuke sat down, panting from the exercise. His life with Orochimaru was full of training and darkness. He knew that very soon was the time that Orochimaru would soon come to take over his body.

'But I don't care. At least I can kill that brother of mine,' he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Then he heard a series of faint hops that gradually got louder.

'What's that?' he thought.

He sensed that it was extremely near him but couldn't see anything.

'Hello,' came a small voice from underneath him.

He looked down and there was a frog.

'Who are you?' He picked up the frog and held it level to his eyes.

'I'm Jiriya's information source,' the frog croaked. Sasuke began to dislike the frog as it was becoming annoying as it kept hopping along his hand.

'What do you want?' he questioned the tiny frog.

'I'm here to inform you that Itachi, your brother is planning to kill Hinata then Kiba and move onto Naruto,' it replied.

'What?' Sasuke abruptly stood up.

It was him that wanted to kill Itachi if anyone else did it what would be the point?

'I can't let that happen,' he thought 'besides; this is a perfect opportunity to kill Itachi.'

He didn't need to think twice. He picked up the frog and flew out the window.

_Under the heat of the sky…_

The frog told him where Itachi would be now and Sasuke followed the frog's orders. Sasuke also trusted the frog as the frog was able to find him.

'Finding Itachi would be easy too,' Sasuke thought.

When they arrived at the place Sasuke landed on a treetop. He stood there as instructed by the frog.

Sure enough, in front of the cabin they saw Itachi about to rap on the door.

'Uchiha Itachi, what are you doing,' Sasuke asked darkly, Itachi slowly turned around to face him. His facial expression didn't change.

'None of your business,' He turned on his Mangekyou Sharingan.

'I am still the wall you'll have to pass, Sasuke,' then he turned around to examine the chuunin.

After every second of looking at his brother Sasuke got angrier. Sasuke called upon his Sharingan and released a chidori at his brother but his brother, like the last time Sasuke tried, blocked him easily. Then Itachi began to twist his arm, painfully and then knee him in the stomach.

'Damn, I have to got to _that _stage already,' as he began to release his cursed seal. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

'You've been with Orochimaru I see,' Itachi released a genjutsu at him. Sasuke was able to stop it as he had released the seal.

Sasuke said 'I will kill you even if I have to kill myself. My whole life was one of an avenger!'

They began using Taijutsu and were edging further and further away from the cabin. Itachi wanted to end this quickly.

Itachi slipped off his ring

'This ring is not only a sign that I'm part of Akatsuki, it also releases a pseudo-ghost. Orochimaru gave us each one but I was the only that bothered to keep it.' (It was because members that wanted to leave had to leave a precious possession behind.)

Behind him a blue-like object with mouths began to appear. Sasuke knew about them as Orochimaru had also given Tayuya one before too. Sasuke knew that if he waited too long the ghost would sense him and eat up his charka. Sasuke then began to rise. Itachi called out

'Are you going to run away again, coward?'

'To defeat you, I will use this once-in-a lifetime technique,'

Sasuke performed a few handseals and chanted 'Kagerou Ninpou Uta-kata,' (Sasuke knew the technique from Orochimaru that had once taken over the fuuma clan). There was a bright light and Itachi fell down dead. Sasuke, from the technique, had a great pain in his chest developing and soon he knew he would be gone.

_The next day…_

A sand-ninja happened to be walking by and saw the two dead bodies. He picked the two up and quickly flew to the Kazekage. Gaara examined Itachi whom he didn't recognize but when he examined Sasuke's body, his eyes widened and so did his siblings. He gave orders that Hinata and Kiba come. When Hinata saw the dead body of Sasuke she became angry. There was an anger burning inside her.

Why did such a bad group exist?

Was it just to kill everyone?

She wanted to get rid of any bad force inside of the world. She turned to Kiba.

'I don't want Akatsuki to kill anyone, we have to stop them,' she said. Kiba nodded and told Gaara

'How about adding to our mission to get rid of Akatsuki?' Gaara turned towards him.

'You mean kill them?'

Kiba didn't really understand but he nodded anyway thinking that was an idea. Temari and Kankaru who were beside them also agreed as they knew how evil Akatsuki were as they were once under an ex-Akatsuki member's control.

_In the afternoon…_

Hinata walked over to Kiba where he sat feeding Akamaru, she had been standing behind the tree waiting for Kankaru to pass.

'Ah, Hinata you've finally come out.'

She blushed and nodded.

'C...could you help me train, please? I want to get stronger so I can defeat Akatsuki.'

Kiba looked down as he contemplated

'Alright but I've taught you everything I know but I'll give it a try. Tomorrow we start' Hinata smiled and thanked him quietly whilst walking off.

Three figures came rushing towards Hinata and abruptly, they stopped. Hinata's eyes widened, then she fainted to the floor.

'Hey, Hinata why do you always faint when Naruto's around?' Kiba walked over and asked. Naruto and Sakura, who usually had bright smiles on their faces, instead had wet and sad faces.

'We heard that Sasuke had died,' Jiriya's face was very unemotional, but inside he was feeling pity for the young shinobi that had one goal which he completed, only to kill himself.

_In the hospital…_

Hinata woke to see Kiba standing beside her.

'Well, if Hinata is awake, let's start training now,' Kiba carried Hinata outside, making her feel quite strange. They then trained for the rest of the afternoon. Kiba and Hinata's were now exhausted.

Kiba and Hinata both laid down on the cool grass as they enjoyed the light breeze. Then Kiba rolled over to face Hinata.

'Hinata you really are improving, I'm proud.' It seemed that Hinata was now as good as Kiba.

'I can't train you anymore but if you ever need someone, I'll be there.'

They heard a sound of sand.

'Hinata I'm willing to help you train,' it was Gaara. Gaara had been hiding for quite a while using his sand to protect him scent. Gaara had been told by Temari that Hinata needed help so he decided to come to her aid. Hinata nodded softly.

_In the Akatsuki cave…_

'The weaker Jinchuuriki has arrived,' Zetsu said to himself.

'We want them, since you bought up the idea, go and get them,' ordered an unknown figure that was surrounded by darkness.

'Understood,' Zetsu took the order and left.

_In the training grounds…_

'You need to improve your speed; I only hit you lightly that time.' Gaara shouted to her from above. He let another thin string of sand coil around her. Hinata unleashed some charka in the form of a river into it and then the string broke.

'That's better,' Gaara thought 'she's getting better,'

He was interrupted by a servant.

'Kazekage, you must attend the funeral now,' a female shinobi called from below. Gaara nodded.

Gaara nodded and the trio finished the training for the day. First they went back to their rooms to change into something black and then they made their way to the funeral.

In the funeral…

Naruto, Sakura and Jiriya arrived for the funeral service immediately after they had heard the news from Gaara.

Naruto was holding the paper that was now soaking wet with tears. There was a sad tune playing the background. Sakura's face was also dripping with moisture.

'We will all remember what Sasuke taught us,' Naruto choked out the words.

Sakura then saw a strange tree and then dispelled the genjutsu and immediately stood up.

'Watch out!' Sakura jumped out and grabbed Naruto.

'You monster, why are you here?' Sakura was pointing at a tree.

'Very smart girl, how did you figure it out?' Zetsu turned into his normal self

'I am one of the smartest shinobi around, you were taking a step too fast, a normal tree normally has branches that face in the range of approximately 30 degrees from the sun, your branches face 13 degrees too high,' Sakura pointed out. Then he lunged forward with amazing speed and grabbed Sakura's leg with his Venus fly trap head.

'You're not getting away from me now,' Zetsu laughed evilly. He swallowed her legs then her whole body very quickly. A shuriken then hit Zetsu's arm

'Give Sakura back,' Naruto said. Jiriya pulled him back

'There's no use, she's gone.'

Sakura hated Akatsuki for killing Sasuke, she knew she would be blown to pieces but she couldn't waste this good opportunity. She took an exploding note and performed a few hand seals.

'Explode,' she whispered.

There was a faint gurgling sound coming from Zetsu's stomach. Zetsu looked down and whispered

'Damn.' Within moments there were pieces of cloth and skin blown around the place.

In the darkness…

In the coffin, something stirred. Then out came Sasuke with eyes that were blank and green and a fly trap around his face. He bounded off into the night.

In Naruto's and Jiriya's bedroom…

Naruto's sadness was overwhelming him and he could only think of Sakura.

'Ero-sennin, I can't do anything without Sakura,' Naruto cried hard. Jiriya looked at him and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder

'You've got to be strong, do anything, help train Hinata,' Jiriya said to him.

'There are 3 more members to kill,'


	5. Hinata falls under the seal

_In Orochimaru's den…_

'Kabuto, has something happened?' Orochimaru had placed his eyes on Kabuto that had just stopped in his task.

'I'm afraid that Sasuke is gone,' Kabuto whispered.

'And how do you know that?'

'Sasuke was well into the procedure of being a container. I placed a reassurance needle into his spine that would react with any emotions or thoughts that were negative towards you. He usually nothing for you but now I get a strong feeling from it. I'm afraid his body might've been taken over.' Orochimaru's eyes will now thin slits.

'I guess that I'll have to find another container,' Orochimaru sighed as he felt it was a great loss.

_In the training grounds…_

'Hey… Hinata, I'd like to help you with your training,' Naruto stepped towards her and looked at her directly. 'Hinata's eyes widened and she felt a huge blush.

'Uh… y...yes Naruto.' Naruto gave her a wide smile and took her to a wide plain of grass.

'First let's see how you're going.' Hinata was already weak at the knees, but remembering that she had come here to train and not just be alone with Naruto made her strong. She stood up and readied herself for attack and showed strong self confidence. Naruto gulped as he saw her face. Her eyes were just like Sakura's, he sensed that tears were coming to his eyes but he couldn't stop. He bent down and covered his eyes

'Sakura, you're gone.' He repeated this over and over again. Hinata walked over towards him and heard his words. She was very disappointed as she thought that Naruto would be over Sakura and like her.

When Hinata and Naruto had finished training, Naruto went into his bedroom and Hinata when to visit Kiba.

'Kiba, you said that I could talk to you,'

'Yes, what do you want?' he said then he averted his gaze from Akamaru and saw Hinata's eyes were leaking. He hated to see Hinata in pain so he took her a tight embrace and he sat in a couch. She shakily explained to him what had happened. He nodded and agreed at intervals. When she had finished the story he told her

'I hope I've been some help to you.' She nodded as she realized she wasn't crying anymore and that Kiba was the one that could help with her misery. She walked out as she realized it was time for lunch. Kiba followed her.

Then as they walked along the unlit hallway then saw a faint outline of a figure. When it turned its head its glasses caught light and there were two bright circles of light.

'You're finally here, fancy a battle?' Kabuto was standing in front of Hinata. Kiba looked at Kabuto.

'Don't touch Hinata or else.' Kiba black mailed Kabuto but Kabuto didn't even blink.

'Threatening me are we?' Kabuto raised a hand to attack.

Kiba knew it was the start of a battle so he too readied himself.

He fed Akamaru a food pill then started to attack using Jinjū Konbi Henge: Sōtōrō, he lunged forward to attack. Kabuto, being the Jounin-level he was, easily dodged them and threw a poison bomb at the spinning tornado. Kiba stopped and fell as his limbs were paralyzing due to the effects of the poison.

'Good job Kabuto,' Orochimaru stepped out from the shadows. Hinata had her Byakagun ready and was in her gentle fist position. She desperately tried to attack Orochimaru but he dodged each move as quick as lightning. As her energy started to fade, she stopped for breath. Orochimaru stood there contemplating.

'She has the Byakagun, even better then the Sharingan. I see my future in her,' He smirked and gave her the seal of the underworld then swiftly left.

Hinata's energy was drained and was developing a high fever, very much like Sasuke had. She rested as Orochimaru started to take over her body. Kiba was now awaking and Akamaru recounted the events to him. After Akamaru had finished, Kiba went over to Hinata's body and sensed that a different type of Charka was coming out of her Tenketsu. He lifted her onto Akamaru's back and went over to the most powerful ninja there was, currently in the sand.

'Jiriya, Hinata received the cursed seal, could you help her?' Jiriya looked at Kiba's desperate eyes and smiled.

'I, the famous Jiriya, could always do something like that. He placed Hinata on the sandy ground and performed a few seals; a calligraphy brush appeared in his hand. He then began to write very complicated symbols then wove in and out of each other like strands of silk, knitted together. He muttered a few words then they all disappeared in a flash and the seal began to disappear but there was still a small star left.

'I have sealed the seal but it may reactivate depending on your expenditure of charka and willpower to keep it in.' Jiriya informed her

'The seal I have used also has taken up a portion of your charka, so don't force it out,'

_The next day…_

'Hinata, do you want to fight us?' Kiba asked with Gaara standing besides him. Kiba thought that Hinata was growing stronger and she would be better off with two fighting her then one. Then one of Hinata's purple locks fell to reveal the seal that appeared just below her jaw bone. Kiba flinched at the ghastly looking object but he still stood still and waited for an answer. Hinata smiled, as she didn't realize Kiba was scared of the seal, and her eyes seemed to glow with happiness.

The trio walked towards the training grounds and readied themselves. Hinata bent into her gentle fist style, Kiba fed Akamaru a food pill and Gaara's sand was pouring out in torrents from his gourd. Kiba was first to attack, using Gatsuuga. Hinata was expecting him to use it so she stood and deflected it with Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō. He was thrown back. Hinata ran over to him as she was scared that she had run him.

'Are you okay Kiba?' She kneeled beside him.

'Hey, hey it's okay we're in a battle and you're suppose to hurt me,' Kiba sat up and signalled her to go back to her starting place, Gaara used his sand to carry her. Gaara, then, used his sand which began to encircle her and attack her whilst it swirled in a vortex. After one particularly hard attack her arm was broken and the seal unconciously began to activate. She was able to cut through the sand and face Gaara directly. Kiba, who was watching Hinata walk closer to Kiba, gulped. Hinata had become a monster.

Every time she talked or moved seemed slow motion as he observed he carefully.

'Kiba! Where were you just now?' Hinata joked.

Kiba was nervously standing in front of her. He wanted to run far, far away from her. She had marks of impurity all over her. They were menacing swirls. Kiba's voice faltered

'Uh..uh nothing,' He took a step backwards. Hinata noticed his uneasiness and felt very downcast.

'Oh…. I understand,' she slowly whispered and walked away. She now realised that this seal was furthering them apart.

_At night…_

'Hinata, you seem sad, why?' Gaara was standing infront of her, eyes full of sympathy. Hinata was confused as she thought that her face was fine, until she realised that her face was shiny with tear trails.

'It's nothing,' she replied.

She began to walk forward again but was stopped.

'I… I need to know,' Gaara wasn't sure why he would say such thing, as his favourite phrase was 'Love oneself' and even his name meant "I only love myself. I'm a demon". Hinata looked into his eyes and realised that it was hard for him to care about someone and he was trying, just for her. She decided that he could probably fill the emptiness left by Naruto and now Kiba.

'I need someone, I am suffering with this seal,' she whispered. Gaara immediately related her seal to his demon

'She's and unwilling host of the seal, and I'm an unwilling host of the demon,' he thought.

'I understand,' he told her.

After Hinata had told him all her feelings, she wiped her eyes. 'What do I do? How can I go to face father again? How can I try to reconciliate with Neji? ... It's all because of this seal.' She was in distraught. Gaara's face was contorted as he thought things over.

'You don't want to stay in Kiba's cabin. Am I right?' Hinata shook her head, thinking how could she ever face him after he gave her that look.

'You can stay in my house,' Hinata's head jerked up, she knew Gaara lived somewhere but she never considered how it would look like. Gaara sensed her surprise and he pointed to a stone-made structure.

'I'm sure Temari and Kankaru will make room for you,' he told her.

Hinata packed all her items, which consisted of her everyday needs, into her back-pack and headed off to the building which Gaara had pointed to. Gaara welcomed her with a wave and she was shown her room. It had a bed and a few other random pieces of furniture.

'This isn't much, but it will do,' Temari gestured her to enter. Kankaru opened his door.

'You had better thank Gaara,' Kankaru patted Gaara on the shoulder 'he went our of his way to get you a room, he's now sharing a room with me. Right Gaara?' Gaara ignored Kankaru's comment and told Hinata to do wo too but Hinata's eyes were leaking once more.

'Thankyou for this,' She went over to Gaara for a hug, which to her surprise, was returned.

'I care for you very much,' Gaara whispered into her ear.


	6. Kabuto meets

_Across the dinner table…_

'Hey, Hinata, What's that?' Naruto gestured at Hinata's seal.

'Umm… I don't know,' Hinata didn't know what it was called, 'but I know that a man named Orochimaru gave it to me,'

'What!' Naruto banged his fist onto the table causing his bowl of ramen to spill. He was enraged.

'Exactly how many people did Orochimaru have to harm to be satisfied?'

Naruto's fist was shaking

'Before Sasuke and now Hinata, what do you want you damned bastard, Orochimaru.'

_At night…_

Naruto lay awake, tossing and turning. His mind was urging to go after Orochimaru and kill him, his body, which was exhausted, was forcing him to go to sleep. At around two in the morning, he finally lay to rest as he had decided to get his revenge on Orochimaru with Jiriya's help.

_The next morning…_

'AAAHHHH!'

Naruto was awakened by Kiba, who was three bedrooms away from him. Naruto ran out of his room, with his beaver sleeping hat still snug around his head. He knocked Kiba door.

'Uzumaki Naruto here to save you!' Naruto grandly announced. First he looked around and saw no Akatsuki member, but when he looked at the toilet he saw Kiba busily mixing herbs to try to help Akamaru, whose right eye was red and puffy. Naruto went over to Kiba,

'how's his eye?' Naruto asked

When Kiba turned to face him, Naruto saw that Kiba's face was twisted with worry.

'Akamaru's eye is sore, he tells me, and it's irritating him so much he thinks that he will just loose all his energy.'

Naruto nodded his head as he understood. He told Kiba that he was going to go to the hospital.

'Thank you so much Naruto, I'll open the door for you,' Kiba had a wide smile, with disappeared when he saw his door that had been broken into splinters.

'Naruto! What did you do!'

'He he he well, Um, you see, I kinda knocked it down when I thought that you were in trouble,'

' YOU… I'm gonna really…'

Kiba stopped when he heard Akamaru whimper will pain. Naruto called after him

'I'm going out,' Naruto called out

However Kiba didn't reply as he hadn't heard Naruto leave.

_At the hospital…_

'My friend's dog's eye is red and sore,' Naruto told a lady behind the counter.

'Ah… I see, I'm sure that you've realized that a domestic animal such as a dog is not suited to stay in the sand. It is an infection from the sand. I'm sure that it will clear it self up very soon, but should anything happen. You should go back to Konoha as we do not have the necessary medicines.'

The lady told him. Naruto thanked her for the information and strutted outside as he was able to help Kiba.

As he exited the door he caught a glimpse of a very distinctive figure, gloating his achievements to curvy women. He ran over to it.

'Ero-sennin, there's something I'd like you to help me with.'

At the sound of 'ero-seninn' the women stopped talking to him immediately and ran off.

'Come back!' Jiriya made a face.

'Those were babes that were sending my heart aflame. Sad, sad…'

Naruto was sick of his teacher's behavior.

'Henge!' Naruto transformed into the attractive women his henge allowed him to be. This caught Jiriya's attention immediately. He looked up at Naruto's female chest. Naruto then transformed back. Many were looking at Jiriya that had fallen off his chair so Jiriya hurried sat up and straightened his headband.

'Ahem, what do you want?' Jiriya asked Naruto.

'I want to help me get revenge on Orochimaru, he's now taken Hinata.'

At the mention of Orochimaru's name Jiriya's head jerked up and his facial expression became more serious.

'Don't go looking for him, you'll just get hurt.

'That's why I came to you, I want you to help me,' Naruto told him.

'I see,' Jiriya started contemplating.

'Well, I could help you but Orochimaru will just beat me again like he did last time,' Jiriya told him.

'You've got to help; besides you've got the nine-tailed fox demon on your side.'

Jiriya paused for a moment.

'Well, since you put it that way I'll help you,' he told Naruto. Later on Jiriya thought

'Naruto really can persuade anyone to do anything,'

_At midnight, in secret… _

'Okay, Naruto. The first thing you have to do is gather your belongings and meet me here. I don't want you to bring anyone because there's no need.' Jiriya told Naruto. Naruto was wide awake despite the dark of the night and he quickly gathered all his fighting equipment and headed out.

'I've gathered everything, now, can we please go?' he questioned. Jiriya looked down at him and had a very serious expression, one which he rarely had on.

'This time you've got to be very careful and do exactly as I say.'

Naruto picked up on Jiriya's seriousness and pitched in.

'Okay then, what do I have to do?' he asked.

_In Orochimaru's lair…_

Kabuto looked at his computer screen and turned over to Orochimaru. Orochimaru was watching him very suspiciously as he was very intent on knowing how Hinata going. When Kabuto suddenly jerked his head Orochimaru walked over to the screen.

'Ahhh… It seems that fool Jiriya is walking right into his death and that kid,' Orochimaru leaned closer to Naruto's head.

'That kid… didn't we meet him when we were about to kill Sasori?' Kabuto nodded

'Yes, that's right, we also saw him when we fighting Tsunade and Jiriya.'

'Yes that's right, anyway enough talk let's meet then,'

Orochimaru walked out the highly mechanical room.

Jiriya was walking side by side with Naruto who had a very determined facial expression on. Jiriya patted his head and thought about all the memories they had together as they might not see each other again.

'Hey, ero-sennin what are you doing?' Jiriya withdrew his hand and put it on the back of his head and forced out a hasty laugh.

'Eh… he he well, you see…'

Naruto squinted his eyes and looked at Jiriya doubtfully

'Your thinking about girls aren't you?'

'Ha! Not exactly.'

He laughed again and just breathed 'hmmm…' and walked on a little faster.

'It's been long, Kabuto, are you sure they are coming?'

Orochimaru turned his head.

'Yes, I'm sure, but they might not be directly heading for us. They could've been caught by one of my booby traps.' Jiriya smiled evilly

'Is that so? What a disappointment I thought a sannin like me wouldn't have had much problem reaching me, I'll go in now,' Orochimaru walked back in, however, Kabuto stood there as he thought about exactly what would've happened…

'Okay it's finished now,' Naruto had a back pain with being hunched so long as he had to write many words.

'Well, leave it to me. All I need you to do is stay in the shadows and don't come out. Orochimaru is too strong and even if it's Kabuto fighting you, there's not much hope,' Naruto had is hands in a fist

'But I've got to do something. I just can't stand doing nothing.' Jiriya looked as his student, whom so reminded if of his previous,

'I'm sure you can't but…' Naruto crossed his arms and looked down.

'Yeah, yeah whatever. I'll do as you say,' Naruto bawled out

Crunch!

Kabuto, who was still outside, pricked up his ears as he thought he heard someone stepping on a pile of dry leaves. He faced where the sound had come from. He saw the figure of Jiriya, a man that he met whilst fighting against with Orochimaru. He heard from Orochimaru that Jiriya was incredibly strong and it was impossible for a mere Jounin to defeat him.

'Long time no see, Kabuto,'

Kabuto's eyes widened.

'How did you know my name?'

'I know because a kid called Naruto, knew,' Jiriya lifted his hand and a swirling blue appeared.

'That…that is what Naruto used,' Kabuto stuttered.

'I know,' Jiriya took a step forward.

'Oh damn, this is not good, I'd better go,' Kabuto thought whilst running away.


	7. Tonight is a beautiful night

_Through the swirling wisps of sand…_

Tobi was greeted by the leader of Akatsuki as he was trotting through the barren remains of a deserted country. The leader was angered as he realized that almost half of the Akatsuki was now killed by a few chuunin. He was also in desperate need of members. He told Tobi a very luscious plan the made a deal to Tobi that if he was to kill a chunnin, regardless if he had the ring or not he would be accepted into the group. When Tobi heard this he was very excited and bent down to vow that he would kill a chuunin even if it meant his life.

_On the battlefield with Kabuto…_

As Kabuto flew through the trees he saw a familiar bush of yellow hair and konoha headband. When the ninja lifted his head Kabuto immediately recognized it to be Naruto. Kabuto's mouth twisted into an evil smile.

'Hey, You, Naruto, over there, I challenge you to a battle,' Kabuto called out, remembering the last time Naruto had barely defeated him and Kabuto had grown much stronger during that time.

Naruto stood up 'I never turn down a challenge.'

Naruto flew to a trunk that was level with Kabuto.

'Kuchiyose no Jutsu,' Naruto performed hand seals and a frog as big as Naruto was the he hopped on its back. Kabuto, who had been training with Sasuke, had learnt a few of his attacks. Kabuto gathered charka at his chest then blew it all out using Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu. Naruto called up a frog's stomach which took all the attacks. When Kabuto had his turn and saw that Naruto was unharmed he thought

'This kid has really gotten stronger but… hasn't reached my level for sure.' Naruto leapt off the frog then it then raced forward and used his long tongue that was a quick as lightning, to wrap up Kabuto. Kabuto was desperately trying to rid himself of the tongue but Naruto was too quick and forced a Rasengan into the region of his heart. The frog let go of Kabuto.

Kabuto was desperately trying to heal his heart but to no avail. Masses of blood were pouring out and Kabuto was fighting for his life.

'There's no use,' a deep male voice said. Kabuto looked up and there was Jiriya facing him.

'We're in a place where I set up seals to stop any medical ninjutsu.

'Hey! Ero-sennin, what happened?' Naruto raced out from the trees. Jiriya laughed

'Mission complete.'

Kabuto was extremely confused and demanded to know what was going on. Jiriya kneeled down and told him that they were only using henge to transform into each other. Jiriya added

'I knew you would underestimate me if I did,' then laughed.

Kabuto was extremely annoyed then he thought that even if he lost his memory it would be better then dieing. He asked Jiriya if he was willing to help him. Jiriya didn't really like anyone close to Orochimaru but since that kid was taken by force and misled he would give it one more chance. He ordered Naruto to take down the three seals and he performed a jutsu that cleared his mind of the times when he was with Orochimaru and Akatsuki. There was a white flash and Kabuto was lifeless and much younger… as if he was six again, just before he met Orochimaru. Naruto came back and was shocked to see Kabuto as a small child. Jiriya told Naruto to come with him then he carried the small child back to his room.

Jiriya and Kabuto, now name Sarutobi after Jiriya's deceased teacher, were now very close and Sarutobi was introduced to all of Naruto's friends. Nobody recognized him and Jiriya smiled. He told Naruto to bring him to Konoha and let it live with Tsunade for the time being. Sarutobi was very sad to leave but was reassured that Jiriya would return as soon as his 'business' was finished.

_The afternoon…_

Kiba was in his room stroking Akamaru's head, whose condition was worsening. Akamaru could barely stand up and was extremely thin. Kiba decided that he wanted to go back to Konoha to try to heal Akamaru. He told Gaara that he was about to leave and Hinata was sad but she didn't want to show it so she bit her lip.

Kiba was at his room preparing to leave and was packing his items when he sniffed a smell of an Akatsuki member. It was unfamiliar but as the members all met at one place regularly they roughly smelt the same. Then it hit him. It smelt grassy …

'What else could smell grassy in the sand other then Zetsu?' he thought. He ran back to tell Hinata and Gaara but found they were already engaged in battle with Zetsu.

Hinata switched on her Byakagun and noticed a change. There were two specks of red in the place of eyes. She informed Gaara of his and he took it into consideration.

'Are there any types of eyes other then yours?' he asked

'Yes, the Sharingan' Gaara knew that there were only three Sharingan-users left and one of them, Sasuke was already dead. Gaara turned his head toward the Venus fly trap head.

'Did you merge with Itachi?'

'No, I merged with Sasuke.' Zetsu answered.

'How?' Gaara was confused.

'We can only take the body of live people, unless you're using the temporary heart beating technique.' Gaara questioned.

'Smart child but if you have realized the venus fly trap can grow on things and since I was about to die I took the body of Sasuke who was already dead. I can now use the wonderful eyes of Sasuke and the great techniques of mine. I'm sure to defeat YOU,'

As he said you he launched his head at them with the mouth wide open. Gaara pushed Hinata away using his sand and he took his sand to fill the hole created by the venus fly trap. Glup, However the sand was dissolved by the acid surrounding the inner side of the mouth.

'This sand is not like real sand, it has a lovely blood taste in it,' Zetsu commented. Then Gaara wrapped the sand around the figure and performed desert coffin but the acid in Zetsu's mouth poured out to dissolve it.

'With my Charka I can guide the acid anywhere,'

Setsu said then he started vomiting out the vile liquid and directed it at Gaara. Gaara made his ultimate shield however it was easily dissolved by the acid. Gaara then realized his sand would be very useless if the acid kept going like this.

'Step back!' Hinata called out from behind him. Gaara looked at her to see a figure coved in black raindrops. Hinata had let out the seal and was standing to face Zetsu.

'Ah… an Orochimaru favourite are we?' Zetsu sniggered.

Hinata raised her hand and a large charka poured out. She pointed it at Zetsu and when it touched his body his charka circulatory snapped.

'I am now extending the use of gentle fist so now it isn't just a close range combat style, I have use it from a distance,' Hinata stepped back it the gentle fist pose.

'Hakke Rokujuyon Shō!' she called out. 'Strike one, strike two , strike four…' When Hinata was finished Zetsu was lying motionless on the ground. As he was using a body that had died once it was considerably weaker and had died.

Kiba, who had seen it all, was amazed that Hinata could do such a great technique even if he was scared of the black dots on her, he warmed up to her and hugged her. 'Thank you for saving me even if I must say I hate begin saved by a girl,' Hinata laughed while her seal was retreating.

'Your becoming like Shikamaru,'

_At night time…_

Hinata was lying to rest Gaara took her arm.

'You were very good that time today,' he said.

'Really? I thought you wouldn't say that, thankyou,'

Then she lay to rest because she was so exhausted.

'I would also like to say that Kiba is leaving and it might be dangerous if he leaves alone so I've arranged a ninja to accompany him to Konoha and a comrade of your to help him back.'

However, Hinata was exhausted and didn't hear. He smiled. She sure was he thought. He then brushed away her hair and leaned over to give her a kiss.

'Tonight,' he thought 'is going to be a beautiful night.'


	8. Temari and Kiba get aquainted

_In Gaara's room…_

At dawn approached Gaara looked at the window and sighed.

'How long had I been sitting here?' he thought

He then headed for the door but Temari had her back on the door and was smirking at him.

'Hey, did you sit there all night?' Temari asked, with her cheeky face on.

Gaara didn't answer and just walked by her. Temari decided to keep on questioning him until he told her the 'details' on the night.

She bolted with lightning speed to face him again.

'So? Aren't you going to tell me? I know about the kiss,' she told him.

Gaara at this point was extremely annoyed and told her that he didn't mean the kiss.

'It was only a thank you. I couldn't express it any other way,' he explained.

Temari, however, remained unconvinced. When she was about to pester him more, Kiba ran to Gaara and announced that he was about to leave to Konoha as Akamaru's state was deteriorating fast. 'His eyes are bleeding,' he added. Gaara nodded his head to approve of the decision. Just then Hinata overheard and offered to come with Kiba. Kiba rejected the idea as he was afraid that Hinata might hold him down as he was in rush to help Akamaru. Kiba then waved goodbye and flew out the window.

Temari walked over to Hinata to tell what she had witnessed in the night but Gaara had kept a close eye on her and used his sand to cover her mouth.

'Don't tell, or else,' he ordered.

He forced his sand into her mouth causing her to splutter.

'Okay then I won't tell, but she'll find out, even if I don't tell,' Temari retorted.

Hinata was puzzled and asked why they were arguing over her. Gaara assured that it was nothing and Temari walked out, her annoyance written all over her face.

_In the sand desert…_

Kiba was walking despite the raging sand, beating painfully against his face. His mind was in wonder. He thought about many things.

Was Hinata still the girl that he loved?

He shook his head in confusion.

'No,' he thought. She was different, she had the seal. He remembered what had happened to Sasuke. Sasuke had the seal because he wanted to kill.

Was it that Hinata was as bloodthirsty as Sasuke?

'No,' he thought again. She was pure, she would only kill to protect.

Just then a figure appeared in the distance. As it grew larger it became clearer. It was a member of Akatsuki.

'Yo, how are you?' It walked past him and waved. Kiba turned his head to face it but he was greeted by a blow to the head. Kiba was on the ground and blood dripped from his lips. Kiba thought of the odds. He knew that he had a disadvantage as his weapon was unusable.

'Daikamaitachi no Jutsu ,' a huge wind came from behind him and missed his hair by inches as it blew the figure off its feet.

'Don't you dare touch this chuunin!' A female voice shouted out. Temari jumped over Kiba's head and stood to face the figure that rose.

'Oh… a female. I've never fought one of those before,' the figure chuckled.

'I'm not a female. My name is Temari from the sand, but it doesn't matter. After I'm done with you, there is no need for you to know,' Temari informed him.

'My name is Tobi, and I am a missing nin. I come with strict orders to kill you' Tobi told them.

He stood in a fighting position and Temari in hers. Kiba stood up to back up Temari.

Temari let out a gust of wind and Tobi dodged it quite easily. Temari jumped up behind him and let out another gust of wind which tore Tobi up. Temari landed on the ground and placed her fan on her back again.

A few shurikens came from behind her and then, being controlled by chakra threads headed for her head. Temari sensed them and barely avoided them. She then caught sight of the body but only saw a few pieces of wood. Tobi sneaked up under her and was about to grab her leg when Kiba pushed her out of the way.

'You should be more careful,' Kiba told her

Temari was in thought and didn't hear his voice.

'He can dodge my fan wind by great speed; it seems that seem is his ability. I just have to get a distraction then when he finishes him spurt of energy and is recovering I'll attack' Temari smiled at the thought of being able to defeat him.

Temari beckoned Kiba over and told him the plan. Kiba agreed.

'It'll be too easy,' he added.

Kiba ran to Tobi and wrapped himself around Tobi. Puff! It turned to a big log of wood. Then Temari fired her kiri kiri mai to her front and then Tobi was soon a pile of blood. Kiba used the log of wood as protection so he remained unharmed.

'That was really good Temari. You saved my life' Kiba whispered.

Temari smiled and patted his head.

'You're a friend of my brother so I had to help you and there's one thing I need you to do,' Temari replied.

'What is it?' Kiba asked.

'I'll tell you when we return to the sand,' Temari replied, more mysteriously this time.

_In Konoha…_

Temari and Kiba were now closing in on the borders of Konoha. They joked about many things and seemed to be friends for years, even if they had only met a few days ago.

'There's a tea house over there. Would you like a drink Kiba?' Temari asked him.

Kiba agreed so they entered. They sat down and it was then when Kiba realized something.

'Temari, I forgot … I forgot my wallet.' Kiba said.

'It's okay,' she smiled and then took out her purse.

Kiba was awed at the sight of the thickness.

'Don't worry, I'm not a thief,' Temari joked 'It's because Gaara's the Kazekage that we have such high salaries.'

Kiba looked down out of embarrassment as a girl had to pay for him.

'So, the thing I wanted to ask you to do to.'

Kiba leaned forward so he could concentrate more on her words.

Temari shifted in her seat.

'I'm not sure you really want to hear this Kiba, so I'll make you ready to hear it,' she thought.

Temari smiled 'Do you know how Gaara is lately?' she asked.

'I never knew him before so I can't really say anything,' Kiba muttered.

'Well, I'll tell you. He's been getting more cheerful these last few days despite the constant appearances of Akatsuki,' Temari told him.

'I think it's because of Hinata.' She finished. Kiba looked unsurprised as he knew Hinata could change someone with her sweet and shy nature, even if she was very quiet. It was quite the opposite of Naruto that would give energy and will to a person with his shouts of enthusiasm,' he thought.

'When I mentioned Hinata's name Kiba didn't blush so if I told him I'm sure it won't hurt him as much so I think I will tell him,' Temari contemplated.

'Did you what happened last night?' Temari murmured. Kiba shook his head.

'Gaara kissed Hinata,' Temari answered bluntly. Kiba thought that he would burst into tears. Temari patted his back just before he did cry.

'You know it's not that bad,' she told him.

Kiba looked up at her.

'She is just like my sister, so gentle, so sensitive,' Kiba thought.

Before he knew it Temari had embraced him in a hug. Kiba closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm sensation of a brotherly sisterly affection. When they had finished their tea they headed for the hospital.

'Hello, Sir and Madam, can I help you?' Kiba pointed to his pet that was lying very still and it almost seemed like it was dead, except for the endless blood trails that was beginning to dirty the tiles.

'My, a very bad case of infection, please go to room 461 the lady told them.

They were tended to by a friendly looking male doctor who took Akamaru in his arms very gently.

'Be strong Akamaru,' Kiba called out. Temari placed her hand on his shoulder. 'He'll be alright,' she whispered.


	9. Gaara's love

In the sand…

Hinata awoke to find the sun shining brightly in her room. She stretched and dressed. When she finished her breakfast she was about to walk to the open to train she stopped Gaara. He was exploring the garden, possibly the most beautiful and lush place in the sand. It was then that Hinata realized that there was a garden. She walked down to greet Gaara but she was hindered when a figure bowed in front of him.

'Kazekage, there is an important meeting to attend to,' a general informed him.

The two flew away to the headquarters. Hinata went to the garden. It was very pretty with the many lavenders and queen of nights. She bent her head to smell it. The scent was wonderful. She wondered around for a while observing herbs and pulling out weeds. But a sinister figured appeared

'It's going great,' can a low and snake-like voice.

Hinata froze. She turned her head around slightly and caught sight of Orochimaru.

'Oro…chi…maru,' Hinata stuttered.

Orochimaru walked over to her and went to check on her seal. He licked his lips and then extended his tongue to touch the seal. Hinata felt and slight burning sensation but then it extended and grew until she felt the seal was on fire. Then she fell to the floor faintly feeling her body hit the ground. She was conscious but only just.

Gaara returned from the meeting and when he had finished his meal he felt that the house was empty.

Usually Hinata was there to greet him and eat with him. But where was she now?

Gaara searched the house and the places he had seen her go to. He checked around the house, the training fields and even the market square where the festival was held. She was no where to be found.

In disappointment he walked back to the house and headed for the verandah. Then he caught sight of Hinata! She was lying down and her eyes were open with a death aura to it.

The first word that hit Gaara was Orochimaru.

He ran over to her and she responded by the quietest whisper of his name. He bought her over to her room and cradled her in his arms. He gave her a glass of water which she gratefully emptied.

Tears were then leaking from her eyes and she whispered 'I was useless, I couldn't even fight back.'

He held her tightly to his chest so he could absorb her tears. She grasped onto the cloth. He realized that the reason she felt useless was because of Orochimaru's strong murderous intention. It had drained all of the will in her to live.

He lightly touched her face and told her 'You can cry as much as you want but remember I need you and nothing can change that fact.'

Her eyes widened in surprised but her heart felt at home.

In Konoha…

Beep…beep…beep…

Temari and Kiba sat together. Temari was impatient for Akamaru to finish his surgery so Kiba could tell Hinata but Kiba was sitting and half praying for Akamaru's safety.

He kept muttering 'Hope your okay Akamaru, hope your okay Akamaru…'

Temari looked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.

'I told you he's going to be fine. He's a great dog and is very strong,' she told Kiba.

Kiba nodded and kept on praying as if she didn't say anything.

'Damn, that kid is so obnoxious can't he realize that it's okay because the medics are highly trained here?' Temari thought while letting out a breath of exasperation.

When the beeping stopped Kiba and Temari both stood up and walked to the door. The surgeon came out with Akamaru on a leash. His eyes were bandaged but he was looking more cheerful and it didn't look like he was in pain.

Akamaru ran over to Kiba barking happily and jumped into Kiba's arms .He started recounting the events. Kiba listened carefully and when Akamaru had finished Kiba's eye's glistened with unshed tears.

The pair walked out of the hospital in a much lighter mood than previously entering it. They took off as soon as they reached the borders of Konoha.

The next night…

Temari and Kiba fixed their sight on the swirly sandstorm. They were very soon in sand. In excitement they rushed forward.

'Ha ha Kiba we're here.' Kiba barked a note of relief.

He disliked being in the jacket for so long.

When they reached the Kazekage's hallway to report their coming Temari noticed an eye behind her but she kept her head forward. It was to show she didn't pay much attention to it.

She went over to Kiba just before they had entered the building and gave Kiba a hug and using his head as a block to the eye she said 'Don't forget.'

Kiba nodded his head ever so slightly.

They both headed inside and the eye remained outside but was still keeping its gaze on Temari.

They were welcomed back but were told that Gaara was in a meeting and was soon to return. They showed they understood and forwarded out. Temari went to the meeting and Kiba looked for Hinata.

He found Hinata in the garden. (He was able to find her easily because of Akamaru's and his good nose.) They found her walking on the water practicing her new jutsu. It was extremely pretty. She abruptly stopped when she noticed Kiba.

'Hello Kiba,' she gave him a casual wave and stepped out of the water.

'There's something I need to tell you Hinata,' he grabbed her arm and told her to listen close.

'Gaara loves you,' he said to her.

'I don't believe that!' she responded, very surprised.

'You know when you defeated the Akatsuki member? He kissed you that night!' Kiba was irritated at her always being the last to know. Hinata's eyes widened

'Is Kiba okay with that?' she asked.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders.

'Yeah, if you love him you should be with him,' he told her in an almost fatherly way.

Hinata's eyes lit up.

When the meeting was over…

Gaara went out and rubbed his head. The day sure was long. He decided to go to the garden as a refresher.

When he reached the garden he noticed a figure. (He couldn't see her as her face was covered in water and it was extremely dark.) There were cascades of water that flowed around like streams. He sat on a rock to watch the beautiful figure.

With each drop of water his breath stopped and he imagined his heart was alive only for her. When he realized it was Hinata, with the lavender hair he was surprised.

When the water stopped flowing and splashing. An exhausted Hinata walked out and her eye caught Gaara.

'I didn't know Gaara was here,' she stuttered.

'Gaara I want to tell you something,' she bent her head forward and blushed.

Gaara already knew what she would say as she always acted like that around Naruto before.

Gaara took her hand and pulled her closer. He wrapped an arm around her neck and drew nearer. At first Hinata was confused at what Gaara was about to do when she realized. She too wrapped an arm around his waist.

Her eyes glistened, 'Gaara does love me too,' she whispered.

She closed her eyes and Gaara bent forward to give her a kiss. Hinata returned it with passion. Both their bodies were pressing close together.

'I never realized that I could have the capacity to love, a heartless demon like me,' Gaara thought.


	10. Goodbye Kiba

In the Akatsuki cave…

The leader was having a hard time coping with the fact that all of him followers were dead and the only one alive was himself. He discussed it with himself.

Go to kill the chunnin I can easily do so…

_What if I get killed myself? What would happen?_

Shut up, if that were the case, I wouldn't be the leader of Akatsuki in the first place…

_Well, if you put it that way than maybe your right_

When the leader finished his thoughts he decided that he would leave right away to kill them.

In the sand…

After Hinata and Gaara kissed Hinata was more wary of his presence and did more than blush when he came near her. She literally hid her head it her jacket as to avoid eye contact and it was annoying Gaara. It was hot as they were taking a break from training so he decided to start a conversation.

'Hinata,' Gaara said in a rasp tone.

'Ah…Yes Gaara?' Hinata stuttered more so than before.

'Er…,' Gaara was wondering how to start the conversation. 'Are er you planning to go back?' he finished lamely.

'I think that I won't,' Hinata placed a hand on her forehead to wipe the sweat away.

Gaara widen his eyes as he was sure that she would've said yes. He muttered a 'why' which he thought she didn't hear but she did.

'Well, Neji and father would probably be scared of me with the seal and I never had any close friends in Konoha anyway.' Hinata said rather matter-of-factly.

Gaara bowed his head in thought then raised it to call a messenger.

'Tell the Hokage of the leaf that Hinata of the Hyuuga clan will be remaining in the sand,' he informed her.

The messenger bowed then went off without a single glance backward.

When it was the afternoon Temari was notified that she had to go to the Chuunin exams to judge the children again. Temari sighed it was tedious work but someone had to do it she always told her self.

At about the same time the leader of Akatsuki had arrived to murder them. He clenched his fists to give himself just a little more luck. He made himself invisible and strode around the estate killing all who noticed his presence.

Then Kiba noticed but being ht e trained ninja he was chose to keep it quiet. Kiba ran out.

'Hey Hinata where are you?' he looked around the garden hoping to catch a glimpse of the invisible figure.

The leader chose not to kill him as he thought that Kiba really was trying to look for his friend.

Kiba in took a sharp breath then bellowed out 'HINATA!' When he did so he was able to learn more of the body. He was around 25, had a strong healthy charka flow and was part of Akatsuki. When he started to sniff for he didn't find any other trace of person.

'This must be the last Akatsuki,' Kiba thought.

'Kiba I'm here now,' Hinata came running to him from the bushes with Gaara accompanying her.

'With three ninjas we might have a chance of beating him,' Kiba thought to himself so he swiveled around to face the figure.

'Show yourself!' Kiba pointedly said.

The faint outline of a person shimmered to give way to a blur of colour then the colour straightened itself to become a person.

'So you were there,' Kiba told him.

'Seems like your no ordinary ninja, are you part of a clan?' The leader asked him.

'The Inuzuka clan,' Kiba spitted.

The leader shivered with those words as he knew what had happened the last time he had fought one.

_Should I continue fighting? _

You wimp of course you should, besides this is just a chuunin afterall.

_I guess soand make a plan this time_

'Hmph,' the leader backed against a nearby tree.

'Are you going to come?' Kiba asked after a minute.

The leader regained his senses.

'Ah yes, I will he,' he flung over his robe, which was hindering him, and aimed a hit at Kiba.

All Kiba saw was a blur and then felt a searing pain.

Then another hit was aimed. This was a lethal one and broke Kiba's arm.

'Watch out!' Hinata cried out alarmed.

She had turned on her Byakagun and could follow his moves directly.

'He's invisible. He's only making random streaks of colour to confuse you' she continued.

Gaara pulled Hinata close to his body then used third eye and entered the fight. They were covered in a thick layer of sand mixed with charka.

'Guide me,' Gaara commanded.

Hinata pointed to where she saw the outline and Gaara was finding it hard to follow as her hand looked like a blur. Then an idea struck him.

He guided his sand over to Kiba and spelled out words for him.

'Are you okay?' the sand shaped

Kiba nodded realizing that the sand was Gaara's.

'Can you use your nose scent and Akamaru's together?' the sand distorted

_His nose! _Why didn't he notice before? He had always used it in battle but why couldn't he smell the scent anymore?

He sniffed the air again and realized that there was a foreign smell only it was different to the one he smelt before.

He adjusted his nose to track down the smells each time they changed which was about a minute or so.

'He's slowing down,' Hinata remarked in the dim light.

Gaara have noticed this as he was able to see where she was pointing to much better than before. He decided it was about time to act.

He called a handful of sand which he instructed to become bullets.

'Shoot,' Gaara breathed.

They became larger and larger and soon the battlefield became a wave of sand heaping in a concentrated area at once.

'It hit his leg,' Gaara felt his sand bulls-eye the leg.

'Aaaowww' the leader howled.

The leader's leg was already under huge stress as they had to work hard for him to build up the speed.

He grasped his leg and toppled over, hitting the ground with a thud.

Kiba ran over and elbowed the leader to make sure he was out cold.

'What should we do with him?' Kiba questioned when the trio had circled the body.

'I'll send him to a jail cell for interrogation then kill him,' Gaara said quite frankly. He called up a few ninjas to bring his body to the interrogation centre.

Hinata questioned whether it was too harsh or not but Gaara, being the person he was, disregarded it.

At night…

Temari announced that she was to leave to Konoha which surprised Hinata. Hinata looked at Temari with awe in her eyes. Temari then asked whether Kiba and Hinata would return to Konoha with her.

'Why?' Kiba asked

Temari smiled and thought of his childishness. She explained that now Akatsuki had been wiped out and they could return from this mission.

'Um, I can't,' Hinata interrupted.

Temari cocked her head to one side in confusion.

Hinata continued to explain that she didn't want to return now that she had the curse and her family wouldn't accept her.

Temari nodded softly as she understood perfectly. Temari forwarded for the door and called for Kiba to follow. He stood up to follow but his eye caught Hinata and soon memories were filling him up of their wild adventures together.

'I'll be seeing you,' Kiba whispered softly.

Hinata held back her tears as she knew that she might never see Kiba again.

'I'll be seeing you too,' she replied.

They both stood their watching each other for a while but Temari coughed and Kiba regained his senses.

'It was nice having you as a protector but all I did was protect you,' Gaara joked.

Kiba smiled and then followed Temari.

Temari gave a casual wave before she leapt into the darkness.


	11. Mission complete

In the sand…

Gaara was Hinata were out in the market square observing new things and hearing new news. Gaara used a henge so he wouldn't be recognized to avoid a crowd of fan girls.

'What do you think of these flowers?' Hinata held up a bunch of white lilies.

Gaara cocked his head to one side.

'They're okay I guess,' he replied.

When they were about to pay Hinata noticed a white of white hair with a headband with the word 'wine' printed on it.

'J..Jiriya!' Hinata exclaimed, whilst pointing towards him.

Gaara breathed a sigh of annoyance. Jiriya was peeking again. Gaara had been becoming more like Naruto and the one thing that annoyed him the most was Jiriya's continuous urge to perve.

He sent a roll of sand to poke him to gain his attention. This caught Jiriya completely off-guard causing him to yelp, sending the ladies scurrying.

'Um…,' Hinata whispered.

Jiriya quickly recovered after hearing her small voice.

Gaara went up to Jiriya and wanted to talk to him about something that bothered him.

'Sorry for my interruptions but looking into a woman's bathing house is against most people's morals,' Gaara started off, but pulled him back when Jiriya was trying to follow the naked woman.

'So, I wanted to know more about Hinata's seal,' Gaara finally finished, satisfied that he was able to get it over and done with.

Jiriya became serious.

'Let's talk about it elsewhere,' he said in a low voice.

In the dense undergrowth of the forest Jiriya, Hinata and Gaara were well away from all eyes.

'I've learnt the forbidden technique,' Jiriya told them.

Hinata and Gaara looked at him quizzically.

'The technique that seals up a soul but in return the user's life must be given. Now I am certain that I can defeat that bastard,' Jiriya informed.

Hinata looked at him with a new respect but Gaara remained unsure.

'What has that got to do with the seal?' he asked.

Jiriya laughed warmly then told him that there was a connection between the seal and the giver. If the connection was severed then there was a high chance that Hinata would be saved. That reassured Gaara.

'Could we go to kill him now?' he requested.

'Anytime you want,' Jiriya answered.

In Orochimaru's new hiding place, the sunken ship…

'I wonder whether I should take over that girl's body now,' Orochimaru asked himself, whilst he was staining a scroll with blood.

An alarm then went off and Orochimaru swam around with the limbs of a mermaid, which he had stolen recently.

Then he saw three red spots on the screen, rapidly approaching his hideout.

'Damn,' he muttered.

He thought that no one could ever find out of reach this hideout so he didn't bother with booby traps of any sort and had concentrated his charka into keeping alive in the water rather then attack.

He hurriedly ran to his pile of preserved human flesh and quickly fitted a few pieces of limbs on his body. He didn't notice that the trio was already standing waiting to engage him into battle.

'Hey,' Jiriya walked up to him and urged the teenagers to back away and stay far from harm.

Orochimaru faced Jiriya with amusement.

'30 years ago you couldn't defeat me. What makes you think you can now?' Orochimaru laughed.

Jiriya clenched his fists.

'Let's see what you can do,' he lost all sense of control and teleported forward.

Orochimaru had seen a jutsu like it so he was able to deflect Jiriya's fist. He remarked that Jiriya had improved, which Jiriya took in as more fuel for his anger.

Jiriya thought of Naruto before the idea hit him.

Use many kagebunshins so that Orochimaru would find it hard to block.

He plan went perfectly. Orochimaru was pinned down and the god's arm was sticking through his stomach, pulling out his soul.

'You said that Sarutobi was 10 years too old to defeat you didn't you?' Jiriya panted.

Orochimaru had proved to be a hard opponent and worked up Jiriya some sweat before they had got to that point. When only the legs were left to pull out Orochimaru tried desperately to resist but it was in vain. After a few minutes all that was left was a sand doll that was rapidly crumbling away.

Jiriya coughed and then the Death god shook its rosemary and Jiriya's soul too was being devoured.

'Good luck to you in the future. Even in the stomach I'll watch over you,' Jiriya told them. He fell and peacefully smiled. The smile remained even after the body had become a corpse.

Hinata suddenly felt a sharp stab in the back of her neck and reached for it. Gaara looked at well and saw that the seal had disappeared. He hugged and pressed his lips against hers in joy. Hinata was crying that Jiriya had died and Gaara soon caught on.

'Let's bring the bodies back,' Gaara toil her while saddling Jiriya's body on his back and gathered up the remains for Orochimaru for Hinata.

In Konoha…

The pair arrived and a disappointed and sad Naruto came to see them. When he caught sight of the body he collapsed out of a strong surge of emotion.

They held a funeral for Jiriya and buried his remains in a cemetery for reknowned ninja's.

'He really was a great and perverted ninja,' Naruto sobbed.

Tsunade was standing besides him.

'Maybe even Hokage is safer then being out here,' she said remembering that she had once told Jiriya that a Hokage would always foolishly die for the village.

Her tears splattered the grave and she fell down on all fours and began banging her fist on the grave.

'Why, you idiot, why did you give your life up,' she cried.

The ninja around her remained silent. When she had finished her tantrum the ninja's carried her back to her office and gave her a bottle of sake.

Later…

Kiba, Gaara and Hinata decided to follow Tsunade to comfort her.

'Hokage Tsunade, I've come to give you these flowers,' Hinata held out a bunch of flowers, which the Hokage instructed her to put in a vase.

Kiba followed Hinata in bowing. For Gaara it wasn't necessary for him to bow as he was a kage like her.

'How did this pair protect you?' Tsunade asked Gaara.

Gaara smiled warmly.

'They were magnificent,' he answered.

'I'm glad,' Tsunade smiled back.

'Well… it seems that you did your jobs well,' Tsunade told the pair.

'MISSON COMPLETE!'

Authors note: The story is literally finished but the next chapter is for Gaahina fans. Read on for more love between them/


	12. Perfection

In the evening of the wedding….

Hinata and Gaara were to be wed so many people were gathered for this big celebration. The most surprising guests were Neji and her father. Hiashi was very proud of his daughter and Neji was supportive as well.

'You look stunning, Hinata,' Neji stood at the doorway, his eyes feasting on the princess-like lavender haired beauty.

Hinata clasped her hands to her heart, not being able to believe that everything had turned out so well despite all the trouble that had happened. She uttered out a few silent words out her pink lips.

Neji could tell that her hear was racing so he took both of her hands and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

'This is the last time I get to touch an unmarried Hinata,' he jested.

She smiled back she was about to talk but Hiashi appeared telling her that the wedding was about to start.

'You'd better hurry,' he added.

Hinata nodded a few times too much and blushed a deep crimson. Then she was lead away by Hiashi, with her long gown trailing her.

Before she knew it she was already standing before the crowd and was strutting down the carpet with her father. Hiashi was linked arm with arm and was proudly walking along with her.

Gaara looked into her eyes as she appeared to say her vows. She seemed angelic under the night sky.

After the boring marriage stuff, we get to the more romantic parts…

'I now pronounce you husband and wife,' the priest announced.

The crowd cheered. Then Hinata was swept off her feet by Gaara. Gaara had then used his sand to lift the pair off the ground and onto a high sand dune. Hinata was flustered but Gaara knew what he was doing. They stood in front of a large, bright moon and Gaara leaned down for a kiss. She was caught by surprise by returned it. Their features were darkened by their outlines stood out. The crowd underneath with awed

They glowed under the night sky, where they were connected. They stayed on top and the pair looked perfect.

More perfect then the right trio would ever be.

Author's note: I hoped you liked it. Please drop a review so I can write even more beautifully. Thank you for reading this, feel free to read my other fics.


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